


Shelesh: The Angaran Lingua Franca

by MyrddinDerwydd



Series: Angaran Expansion Project [2]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Agender Character, Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Alien Flora & Fauna, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alien Mythology/Religion, Alien Planet, Alien Sex, Alien Technology, Alien/Human Relationships, Aliens, Astronomy, Conlang, Gen, Languages and Linguistics, Linguistics, Other, Transexual, Worldbuilding, angara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-09-23 02:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20332201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyrddinDerwydd/pseuds/MyrddinDerwydd
Summary: The angara are a fascinating race, but their language is relatively undeveloped in theMass Effect: Andromedagame. The transition between First Contact and fluent translation of everyone's speech takes place so quickly and during such a complex series of events that we learn more of their language from Jaal's "Word of the Day" than from the initial encounters. This is an attempt to extend canon vocabulary into an organized, functional conlang for the angara.Please link back or share if you use this information in your work, and join theAngaran Expansion Projectcommunity on Tumblr to request translations help, or provide feedback!





	1. Overview

**Author's Note:**

> Note: Most information is canon-compliant, with some exceptions regarding their biology that are explained in Part 1 of this project, _Angaran Biology and Culture._ If you have your own headcanons about angara that are different, or if you prefer the canon exactly as presented in the game, please enjoy peaceably.

## Introduction

**** Although the angara have between 200 and 300 languages, their most common language is Shelesh, a lingua franca developed in the early days of angaran spaceflight before the Scourge. Shelesh faded into obscurity when angaran civilization collapsed, but has recently been revived as separated angaran settlements have re-established relations. Known Shelesh words and phrases from _ Mass Effect: Andromeda _ were used as a starting point for the feel and structure of Shelesh, beginning with Jaal’s _ Word of the Day _ and the [Mass Effect wiki page](https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Angara). Clarification on whether a particular word is from the source material, derived, or original can be provided by request.

This work begins with chapters describing the structure of the language, followed by lists of words and sample translations (Part 2) on particular topics. Explanations of the context and relevance of the terms is given as well. The Shelesh Lexicon (Part 3) is an alphabetized (Latin alphabet) reference of Shelesh words that is updated periodically. 

In general, angara are extremely expressive and descriptive people. Given that family, and more generally, people are culturally important to them, their language has a broad range of words to describe who other angara are. This is particularly noticeable with nouns for siblings and with personal pronouns. Personal pronouns convey an individual’s relationship to the other angara, as well as some information about the angara being referenced. This means that angaran pronouns used can vary based on the social composition of a group, much as some english pronouns and adjectives vary based on the age and gender of a group.

For example, Jaal views Torvar as a peer and uses _ toh, _ the personal pronoun for peers or similarly-aged siblings. On the other hand, Torvar is a bit awed by Jaal’s position in the Resistance (and later with the Pathfinder), so they tend to err on the side of using _ goh _ or even _ mohnin _ , a generic pronoun and one for an elder, respectively. Torvar is flattered that Jaal views them as a peer, while it annoys Jaal to be called _ mohnin _ by someone they have known as a sibling for many years. It’s a minor point of contention between the two angara that disappears in more casual interactions, with both of them using _ toh _. 


	2. Morphology and Phonetics

## Morphology

The standard Shelesh sentence structure is often Subject - Verb - Object, or Subject - Predicate. Adjectives and adverbs are typically placed before the word they modify (e.g. tall building, quickly running). However, both of these are loose conventions and variable sentence structure is noticeable with angara from different linguistic backgrounds.

Below are linguistic patterns based on the examples provided from the Bioware cipher.

> -an, -on, and -en tend to be affixed to nouns, particularly ones describing a person. E.g. bosen, and tavetaan
> 
> -ir or -lyn sometimes tends to be affixed to places E.g. draullir
> 
> -ara sometimes affixed to complex abstract concepts E.g. inlaara
> 
> -lasea or -las forms a gerund meaning "the act of doing x" equivalent to -tion E.g. Vesolasea
> 
> -ng or -nj is typically added to form a plural
> 
> T is more common than c/k, with voiced stops (b,d,g) seeming more common than their unvoiced counterparts (p, t, k). However, several culturally important words begin with these sounds - Taoshay, tavetaan, paavoa

## Phonetics

Since Shelesh is a lingua franca initially developed and then revived to facilitate communication between all of the angaran people across the worlds, it is fairly consistent, but also exhibits many characteristics seen in other angaran languages. The full history of the language is unknown, but its pre-Scourge development most likely began from a common linguistic root for angaran languages. They went backward in order to use sounds and structures that work well for most angara. Given the recently discovered influence of the Jardaan on angaran development, they undoubtedly did have a single pan-species language at one point in their cultural evolution.

There are no silent letters. Every letter has a sound, and the sound is vocalized in spoken Shelesh. The letters C, Q, and X and Z are not used when transcribing Shelesh using latin characters, as they represent duplicate sounds in English or are not present in Shelesh at all. The letter combinations k, s, ss, or ks, je, … would be used for comparable sounds in Shelesh. The phonology described below is an example based on Jaal’s pronunciation, which is common for angara native to Havarl. The charts below use the IPA font, and will not display correctly if this font is not available.

### Vowels

**Latin - IPA**

| 

**Std. English Example**

| 

**Latin - IPA**

| 

**Std. English Example**  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
a - a or ɑ

| 

bar, lot

| 

aa - a: or ɑ:

| 

bra, star  
  
e - ɛ

| 

bet

| 

ee - ɛ:

| 

air  
  
i/y - i

| 

be

| 

ii/y - i: 

| 

feed   
  
o/u - oʊ

| 

code

| 

oo/uu - oʊ:

| 

door  
  
### Consonants 

letters in parentheses indicate the real-world english equivalent where the sounds do not correspond to simple english equivalents. In particular, θ 'dd' is the soft 'th' sound that is very common in Welsh, and the ʒ 'juh' is easiest to transcribe as the 'je' that is common in French (and Shelesh).

| 

**Labial**

| 

**Dental**

| 

**Alveolar**

| 

**Lateral**

| 

**Post- alveolar**

| 

**Palatal**

| 

**Velar**

| 

**Glottal**  
  
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
  
**Nasal**

|  | 

m

|  |  | 

n

|  |  | 

ɲ (ny)

|  | 

ŋ (ng)

|   
  
**Stop**

| 

p

| 

b

|  | 

t

| 

d

|  |  |  |  | 

k

| 

ɡ

|   
  
**Affricate**

|  |  |  |  | 

ts

|  |  |  | 

tʃ (ch)

| 

dʒ (j)

|  |  |   
  
**Fricative**

| 

f

| 

v

| 

θ (th)

| 

ð (dd)

| 

s

|  |  |  | 

ʃ (sh)

| 

ʒ (juh)

|  |  | 

h  
  
**Trill**

|  |  | 

r̥

| 

r

|  |  |  |  |   
  
**Approximant**

|  |  |  | 

ɹ

| 

ɫ

| 

l   
ʎ (lly)

|  |  |  | 

j (y)

| 

w

|  | 


	3. Verb Conjugation

## Verb Conjugation

Shelesh has pronouns as separate words, without conjugating them into the verbs. For example, “we love” and “they love” and “elder loves” all use precisely the same verb in the present tense - _taosa. _The pronouns are used to indicate number and relationship to the speaker and society as a whole.

There is not a dedicated verb form for a gerund. The relevant conjugation is used instead, meaning that "They are protecting it" is written as "They protect it." Nouns are typically formed by changing the verb affix to the appropriate one for the noun type. E.g. _ vesor _ (v), to explore, becomes _ vesoan _ (n), an explorer, and _ vesolasea _ , exploration. In this example the terminal vowel was retained before the affix, and this is almost always the case. _ Linbatir _ , (v) to work, becomes _ linbatian_, the worker, not _ linbatan _. 

One common irregular verb is _ lasear _ , (v) to do, which becomes _ lasen _, one who does, the doer. Irregularities mostly occur when verbs have multiple terminal vowels before the r.

**Infinitive verbs:** end in a vowel + _ r _  
**Imperative: ** infinitive + _ ‘do _ (command)  
**General Query:** conjugated verb + _ ‘vy _

**Specific Query:** conjugated verb + other query affix  
  
**Present tense: ** remove the r  
**Past tense:** remove the r, add t  
**Future tense:** remove the r, add m

### The verb “to be” - 

** _dir_ **

**Singular present:** _di _  
**Plural present:** _dii_

**Singular past:** _dit_  
**Plural past:** _diit_

**Singular future:** _dim_  
**Plural future: **_diim_

###  Example Conjugations and Phrases

_ taosar; taosa, taosat, taosam _ \- (v) to love; love/loves, loved, will love 

_ liinbatir; liinbati, liinbatit, liinbatim _ \- (v) to work; work/works, worked, will work 

_ avar; ava, avat, avam _ \- (v) to go; go/goes, went/gone, will go 

_ lasear; lase, laset, lasem _; (v) to do; do/does, did/done, will do (irregular)

_ Joh di leshe _ \- I am tall. 

_ Joh dir sovoa _ \- I was knocked out. 

_ Toh ava’vy seddy Gosavar? _ \- Are you going to the Resistance? 

_ Ava’do seddy Gosavar. _ \- Go to the Resistance. 

_ Monira dii taosa _ \- Elders are loved. 

_ Gara unira diit taosat _ \- They were all loved. 

_ Gara taosam ddy onjen _\- They will love the children.

_ Olaon, frayu’do aali! _ \- Younger sibling, stop it now! (Casually: _ Ola, fray aali! _ \- Sis/bro, quit it!)

_ Di taosa toh _\- I love you.


	4. Pronouns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you want to use these resources for Shelesh but do not enjoy my interpretation of the angara as agender or hermaphroditic, you are welcome to do so. There are few words that would need to be changed, although some would also need to be added. Shelesh can remain an agender language with either a) another set of gendered pronouns and a few sex and gender-specific words, or b) the pronouns can remain unrelated to sex or gender, and words like the adjective for male, _ryaa,_ could be used as the noun for man. Feel free to do this on your own, or contact me at Angaran Expansion Project or MyrddinDerwydd on Tumblr.

## Pronouns

Angara are agender and sequentially hermaphroditic, with pronouns that mostly refer to a person's age or status. There are no gendered pronouns and very few sex-specific words, most of which are directly tied to reproduction. 

Since the meaning of a pronoun is partially defined relative to the speaker (and by context), this information is usually omitted in the first person. A child of 10 would say _Joh paryy avar! _(I want to go!), not _Joh onjen paryy avar!_ However, more specific first person pronouns can be constructed with phrases combining _joh_ or _jogara_ with the appropriate noun or second person pronoun (e.g. _joh re mohsen_ = I, a parent; _jogara ddy pogara/onjeng _= we the children). The focus is on the speaker describing their inclusive group. 

Shelesh does not have third person pronouns. Second person plural pronouns are constructed similar to the contraction “y’all”, and can be combined with determiners such as those/these _(kabanj/tabanj _ ) to indicate the group of people (E.g. _ tabanj mohnin _= these elders). The focus is on the speaker describing the object of their statement as an exclusive group.

### First person singular

  * _joh_ \- I, me

### First person plural

  * _jogara_ \- we, us

### Second person singular

  * _toh_ \- you, peers or siblings 
  * _poh_ \- you, child
  * _moh_ \- you, parent 
  * _goh_ \- you, mixed group or general “person.” The most commonly used personal pronoun both in translation and among angara. 
  * _mohnin_ \- you, elder; typically respectful
  * _moshae_\- you, venerated elder; Formal and rare, indicating someone of great significance; often used as a proper noun, i.e. the Moshae, or used as a title, e.g. Moshae Sjefa.

### Second person plural

  * _togara_ \- you all, y'all/they all, peers and siblings 
  * _pogara_ \- you all/they all, children
  * _mogara_ \- you all/they all, parents
  * _gara_ \- you all/they all, mixed group or general “people.” The equivalent to “they/them” in translation, and most commonly used personal pronoun among angara. Can be inclusive or exclusive.
  * _monira_ \- you all/they all, elders; typically respectful
  * _moshaya_ \- you all/they all, venerated elders; *see ‘moshae’

### Posessives

  * _jove_ \- my, mine
  * _jave_ \- our, ours
  * _tave_ \- your, yours; informal. used with peers, children, family etc.
  * _gave_ \- their, theirs; mixed group or generally “belonging to that/those/these person/people”
  * _monive_ \- their, theirs; elders; typically respectful
  * _binnwgave_ \- everyone’s 
  * _kesgave_ \- no one’s 
  * _ama_ \- for, of, belonging to


	5. Numerals

## Numerals

Shelesh uses a **base-12 (duodecimal) number system** with very few irregularities in the spoken or written numbers. A base 12 system is a likely result because of their hand structure. They have the thumb and first finger with the three final fingers webbed together as one unit. That morphology lends itself to counting by 3s and 6s, making base 12 very practical for them. There are converters and explanations of the math available online.

It is rare to see numbers written out longhand; the symbols [still in development] would be used instead. There are patterns to the names and symbols for the basic numbers, which makes it easier to recognize whether a number is divisible by 2 (ends in -y), 3 (-au), or neither (-ei). Numbers divisible by ‘two hands’ (6, which is half of the base 12) end in _-jy._ _Jy_ means hand or foot, which have the same number of digits. Zero (_rekes_) is also used to indicate numbers less than one (e.g. _rekes’way’tauj’vay _= 0.24 or “zero point twenty-four”). The word _kir_ means to divide, with _ki_ used to indicate fractions in number greater than one (e.g. _taujyfa’ki’tauj’pau_ = 100.13 or one hundred point thirteen).

> Example: _Di taujy'vay onjeng jove tavbareen. _\- There are fourteen children in my family.

Base 10 equivalents for the examples are (in parentheses) in the table. For example, if Jaal is 27 standard years in base 10, he has _“wau'tauj'dau rinnal” _or 23 years in base 12.

**0 - rekes; zero, lit. “one not”**

**Num_12 **

| 

**Quantity**

| 

**Ordinal**

|  | 

**Num_12**

| 

**Quantity**  
  
---|---|---|---|---|---  
  
1

| 

rei

| 

reiset

|  | 

11 (13)

| 

tauj’re  
  
2

| 

lay

| 

layset

|  | 

20 (24)

| 

lay’tauj  
  
3

| 

pau

| 

pauset

|  | 

23 (27)

| 

lay’tauj’pau  
  
4

| 

vay

| 

vayset

|  | 

2A (34)

| 

lay’tauj’relay  
  
5

| 

mei

| 

meiset

|  | 

30 (36)

| 

pau’tauj  
  
**6**

| 

**haujy**

| 

**haujyset**

|  | 

33* (39)

| 

pau’ty  
  
7

| 

refei

| 

refeiset

|  | 

42 (50)

| 

vay’tauj’lay  
  
8

| 

lavy

| 

lavyset

|  | 

100 (144)

| 

taujyfa  
  
9

| 

plau

| 

plauset

|  | 

A2B (1475)

| 

velay’taujyfa’lay’mesei  
  
A (10)

| 

velay

| 

velayset

|  | 

B55* (1649)

| 

mesei’taujyfa’mei’ty  
  
B (11)

| 

mesei

| 

meseiset

|  | 

1000 (1728)

| 

taujyla  
  
**10 (12)**

| 

**taujy**

| 

**taujyset**

|  | 

2306 (3894)

| 

lay’taujyla’pau’taujyfa’haujy


	6. Calendar & Havarl

## Weekly Calendar

The angaran calendar uses a seven day week. The days are named _ Sabay, Tef, Vaa, Ema, Roa, Fav, _ and _ Bav _ (from the wiki). _ Voa _ means a day, meaning a complete rotational cycle of the planet. The use of these names is based on Havarl and is often modified on other angaran worlds. Whether a speaker is referring to the day or the meaning of the word (i.e. Sabay vs. swinging) is often understood by context, but _ voa _ is added as an affix for clarity and in more formal situations (e.g. _ Tev’voa, Ema’voa _). 

These names come from describing the astronomy of Havarl, the angaran homeworld. The phrasing isn't particularly antiquated or awkward, even after the passage of so much time. It's a testament to how straightforward and expressive 

**“Swinging with the same plane to block where the sun’s path rises.”  
_Sabay tev vaa ema roa fev bav._**

  * _sabay _\- (n) meaning “swing” or “swinging.” The first day of the angaran week, marking the conjunction of Lesh and Havarl, passing out from behind their planet Sabay (red gas giant). This system orbits the star Faroang. 
  * _tef/tev_ \- and, with, also 
  * _vaa _\- same, together, identical
  * _ema _\- plane of movement
  * _roa _\- barrier/block
  * _fev/fav_ \- west, where the sun rises
  * _bav _\- path or road

## Astronomical Correlation with Havarl

Havarl and Lesh are 2 rocky moons of the gas giant planet Sabay. While Havarl is the angaran homeworld, with lush jungles and large oceans, Lesh is a smaller, uninhabitable, former-asteroid in retrograde orbit. One day on Havarl is 69.6 hours, with time (seconds) a fairly universal constant across galaxies. **One week** is defined by the conjunction between Havarl and Lesh at dawn, with the last quarter moon (Lesh functioning as a moon) stark and huge against the morning sunrise.

Both satellites are tidally locked to Sabay, meaning the same side of Lesh/Havarl always faces Sabay (this is the same as with our own moon Luna). The moons still rotate, simply at the exact same rate as their orbital period around the planet. This creates two different environments on each side of the moon, both with day/night cycles.

The **planetward face** has more moderate day/night variability in temperature and light because it faces the glow of the planet at night. It often sees both the outer moon and the planet in its night sky. The **starward face** has relatively colder, darker nights facing the black of open space, and will never see its planet in the night sky.

## Seasonal and Annual Calendars

## 

**Author's Note:**

> For more frequent snippets and regular "Angaran Word of the Day" posts, come follow [Angaran Expansion Project](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/angaranexpansionproject) on Tumblr.  



End file.
